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Strategies to Help You Overcome The Fear of Presenting.

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Some Simple Strategies to Help You Overcome The Fear of Presenting.

■ Little or no experience of speaking in public?

■ Does the very thought of presenting ■ Still suffer anxiety attacks before you present?

■ Would you like to be more in control when delivering a presentation?

Read on if you'd like to do something about it today...

Hi there, I'm Liz Banks, Welcome to one of Skillstudio's articles to get you started on the road to successful presenting.

Whether it’s presenting to your manager, a team of colleagues, or pitching for new business the success of any presentation is dependent on structuring a clear message and delivering that

you (like many others), the mere thought of having to give a presentation can lead to nerves taking over, what then happens to the clear, well-structured message that you were hoping to present?

Fear of public speaking takes on many guises Just about every day of the week we have people asking us if we've ever had to deal with their particular problem and if we can help them eliminate their fears of public speaking.

The phrases they use to describe this feeling of dread include:-

So is there a medical term for this feeling of dread?

There may well be a medical term for the most know about this is that the feelings described above are actually quite normal. It’s simply what happens when there's a rapid increase of adrenaline running around our body - and we sometimes go into what I'd call almost a state of shock.

• throat dries up • avoid it at all costs • afraid • get panic attacks • shake like a leaf • voice goes • mind goes blank • feel physically sick • totally stressed • feel like an idiot • face goes red • heart is pounding • can hardly breathe • out of body feeling

Generally speaking you are experiencing some physical reactions to a fear induced state of mind.

Not great for you personally if your next job promotion hangs on you're being able to carry this presentation off. Or if it’s during an interview that you've just been asked to give an impromptu presentation.

Do any of these phrases ring true with yourself or others you know?

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But you can change things if you are willing to try.

Both our beginners and intermediate level courses focus a lot on helping to overcome these fears, and to build confidence and improve your presentation delivery skills.

However there's also some things that you can do on your own if you have the time and the desire to give them a try.

You really can start to take back control of your nervous energy.

Note that I didn't say you'd always be able to eliminate all your nerves. In fact its actually good to be slightly nervous - as long as you are in control of things - because then you are more alert - have more energy - and can be far more convincing than if you were just totally laid back and didn't have a care in the world!.

So how do you do it?

Three simple practical strategies to use.

Remember that feeling nervous is natural but there are some simple strategies you can apply before you start to speak to help control the nerves and make you feel more relaxed. Here are a few of my favourites:-

1. Take in a couple of slow, deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, before you start to help control your nervous energy and to slow you down before you start.

2. Clench and stretch your hands and then shake them out. This helps to release tension and to control any fidgeting gestures that can occur when nervous.

3. Imagine chewing a very large toffee to exercise Being in control of your nerves is what's important.

facial muscles and reduce any tension in the face.

But do they actually work?

As you've probably just realised none of this is rocket science. These techniques however can be incredibly effective.

Why not try and put them into practice yourself?

For one, the breathing exercise can probably also reduce your baseline anxiety level and blood pressure if used regularly. In fact one US company has an FDA approved product called RESPeRATE that helps you do just that by encouraging regular deep breathing to reduce blood pressure. It’s now available in the UK and you can read more about it here: www.resperate.co.uk We're not suggesting for a moment that you need to buy this - but just trying to show that breathing exercises can be an incredibly powerful way of reducing stress, anxiety and blood pressure. And of course help you take control of presentation nerves!

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Remember stress balls?

Ever used a stress ball in the past?

tried and tested technique that I personally use to help prepare for a presentation. It's also something that you can do in almost any situation without being spotted!

Remember to focus your mind on what you are doing and make sure that when you clench your that movement and then when

are as taut and as solid as you can make them. i.e. again you are putting as much effort as you can into this tactic. Focusing your attention and physical energy on this activity helps you relax a bit and gives the adrenalin another means of escape!

I use these strategies myself.

I personally use each of these strategies and teach others to use these and much more on our presentation skills training courses.

Yes I know that I've delivered hundreds of training courses and thousands of presentations but I can still get nervous. But as I'm well equipped to take control of the nervous energy I don't want it to be any other way!

Why? Because it gives me the edge, the energy I need to deliver a day long training seminar and of course it also helps me to directly empathise with the people I am there to help.

Try it out for yourself The proof of the pudding is they say ... in the eating. You need to try these things out for yourself. It's no good just reading this here and thinking it sort of makes sense (or not). You actually need to practise these strategies. Then repeat the practice session. Then do it over again so that they start to become natural tools that you use whenever a situation arises that you need to regain control of your nerves.

And remember, feeling nervous before a speech or an important presentation is a good thing. But being in control of your nerves is what really counts.

It helps to smile

Bye for now Liz Banks

Tense muscles in the face make it much harder for you to smile and also probably mean that when you start to speak you won’t open your mouth as much very important for you to get off to a smooth start and also for your audience to start to get drawn into what you are going to speak about.

So these jaw exercises are a great way to help you relax slightly, make you smile more and of course help your audience hear clearly what you want to tell them.

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